Hazardous Devices Unit

The Hazardous Devices Unit (HDU) of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office is one of only 15 bomb squads in North Carolina. The nationally accredited team provides regional service to five counties: Durham, Orange, Person, Granville, and Chatham.

Deputies assigned to this team receive extensive training at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hazardous Devices School in Huntsville, Alabama. Team members are trained to neutralize and remove suspected improvised explosive devices, incendiary devices, explosives, explosive chemicals, pyrotechnics, and ammunition.

The Hazardous Devices Unit, when requested, may also provide the following services: dignitary protection, Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team support, post-explosion crime scene investigation, technical support to special operations, marijuana eradication, and develop/perform bomb threat awareness and safety programs for public and private organizations.